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Irish Times
31-05-2025
- General
- Irish Times
How did European identity develop? Three authors take on colonialism, imperialism and witchcraft
Esotericism in Western Culture: Counter-Normativity and Rejected Knowledge Author : Wouter J. Hanegraaff ISBN-13 : 978-1350459694 Publisher : Bloomsbury Academic Guideline Price : £ 21.99 Shamanism: The Timeless Religion Author : Manvir Singh ISBN-13 : 978-0241638415 Publisher : Allen Lane Guideline Price : £25 The Witch Studies Reader Author : Edited by Soma Chaudhuri and Jane Ward ISBN-13 : 978-1478031352 Publisher : Duke University Press Books Guideline Price : £23.99 Our ongoing tendency, based on a long history , in Western culture and the Global North to marginalise knowledge, beliefs and practices that don't serve our dominant power paradigms, gets a stunningly well-researched shakedown with three monumental academic titles whose authority is grounded on expert scholarship, but whose style is for the general reader. These books describe human experiences and understandings that upend the white supremacist, colonialist, patriarchal knowledge regimes – including those driving 'modernisation' and 'globalisation' – that are corralling our world into polycrisis. In Esotericism in Western Culture, Wouter J Hanegraaff notes the two different meanings of the word 'esotericism'. The first describes the dialectics of secrecy concerned with the social regulation of access to specific forms of knowledge. The second – the esotericism that Hanegraaff is concerned with – is a collection of historical traditions, ideas, practices and social formations that are grouped together because they are considered to have certain things in common. An overarching commonality across this large and multifarious collection, which in our times has come to be labelled 'esotericism', is that it has been rejected or marginalised by mainstream European intellectuals and the public they influence. Random examples from Western culture alone include Islam, European shamanism, Renaissance alchemy and 20th-century 'chaos magic'. READ MORE The politics of establishing a European identity required that its 'internal enemies' (in this case heretics, witches, and magicians) would be identified, set apart, demonised and finally exorcised According to Hanegraaff, esotericism has been set apart as the problematic 'Other' against which the dominant religious and intellectual elites defined, and still define, their very identity. It strongly emphasises specific worldviews and epistemologies, as well as associated practices, that are at odds with normative post-Enlightenment culture in the modern West. Hanegraaff writes that to ignore the social and intellectual taboo on these topics means engaging in a critical project that he has baptised 'counter-normativity'. Counter-normativity refuses to accept our normative standards of what is supposed to be taken seriously and what may safely be dismissed out of hand. As such, counter-normativity is a rejection of the rejection of rejected knowledge. Hanegraaff argues that what ultimately came out of the developments of pre-Reformation Christianity, Protestantism and modernity was a 'potent narrative' about the West that remains extremely influential in our societies and educational institutions. 'It is based on systematic patterns of excluding, marginalising, misrepresenting, or discrediting a wide range of ideas and practices that, in actual fact, were always part and parcel of Western culture but did not fit a narrow ideological agenda of what that culture was supposed to be about.' The title of a classic from 1975 by the historian Norman Cohn – Europe's Inner Demons – captures Hanegraaff's point precisely: 'The politics of establishing a European identity required that its 'internal enemies' (in this case heretics, witches, and magicians) would be identified, set apart, demonised and finally exorcised.' This is the 'internal Eurocentric narrative' of Western culture - the culturally dominant story of what we've been told to see as central to the identity of Europe and the West. It is also the story of what we've been instructed, tacitly or explicitly, to dismiss as marginal to that identity. 'We are dealing,' writes Hanegraaff, 'with a grand narrative in the true sense of the word: a foundational myth about 'where we came from,' 'who we are,' and 'where we should be going.' Once we understand its nature and manner of operation, we will understand why 'esotericism' is commonly perceived as a separate field, a domain of otherness and weirdness. It will also become easy to see why intellectual or religious elites have so often depicted it as a subversive and dangerous threat to foundational Western values or, with even greater effect, as a laughable and silly fools' asylum.' Eventually, this polemical narrative became the chief template for 'external-Eurocentric' perceptions of non-Western cultures as 'irrational,' 'immoral,' 'backward,' 'uncivilised,' or otherwise 'inferior': manifestations of Eurocentrism that are basic to colonialist, imperialist and racist politics, and 'typically operate by means of projecting Western heresiological stereotypes such as 'primitive superstition,' 'sinister magic,' or 'the horrors of pagan idolatry'' upon peoples in Africa, Asia and Latin America. For the first time in the history of the British census, in 2021, thousands of respondents declared their religion to be 'shamanism', while surveys in the US suggest that hundreds of thousands of Americans consult shamans regularly Insofar as the modern study of esotericism exposes the deep ideological structure of internal Eurocentrism and its effects on a global scale, Hanegraaff sees it as 'a profoundly decolonial project' that seeks to break the power of the dominant narrative on which the claims of Western superiority have historically been built. It does so by restoring all those marginalised, misrepresented, forgotten, excluded and discredited beliefs or practices – and the people who expressed them – to a status of normality and legitimacy in the complex history of Western culture. This allows us to see that the 'foreign Others' are not as 'Other' as we've been led to believe. The historical and theoretical underpinning provided by counter-normative intellectuals like Hanegraaff strengthens the mainstream legitimacy of breakthrough works such as Shamanism: The Timeless Religion and The Witch Studies Reader – portals onto worlds that have often either been suppressed or misrepresented by Eurocentrism, or else relegated to the field of 'amateur' or inadequately resourced research. After years of study – including ethnographic fieldwork with Mentawai communities on Siberut Island, Indonesia, and psychedelic use in the Colombian Amazon – anthropologist Manvir Singh concludes that shamanism as an institution is a near inevitability of human societies: 'a captivating package of practices and beliefs' that appears over and over because of its deep psychological appeal. He defines a shaman as a specialist who, through non-ordinary or altered states – also described as 'trance' or 'ecstasy' - engages with 'unseen realities' and provides services like healing and divination. 'Shamanism characterised the earliest human religions,' writes Singh, 'echoes in industrialised societies today, and will perpetually re-emerge.' Neo-shamanism, he argues, is just as 'real' as more traditional forms, and is rapidly gaining traction in the Global North. For the first time in the history of the British census, in 2021, thousands of respondents declared their religion to be 'shamanism', while surveys in the US suggest that hundreds of thousands of Americans consult shamans regularly. In trying to limit shamanism to far-flung or archaic societies, most commentators have denied the 'universality' of its principles and the intrinsic human need that it addresses: to try to control life's uncertainties. The Ancient Greek Oracle of Apollo at Delphi, Judeo-Christian prophets including Jesus, and multiple miracle-touting US TV personalities, are all shamans under Singh's definition. 'A serious global perspective helps to curb cultural vanity,' he writes, 'showing commonality where people otherwise assume difference and even superiority.' Addressing psychedelic use in shamanism, Singh draws conclusions that burgeoning hordes of psychedelic tourists and growing numbers of users in their own countries won't want to hear: the evidence for psychedelic therapy being a recapitulation of an ancient, worldwide shamanic tradition is scant at best. The Witch Studies Reader highlights how tens of thousands of poor, Indigenous and/or ageing women in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa have been murdered for their association, real or imagined, with witchcraft 'This narrative might feel good,' writes Singh, 'but it mangles history in service of ideology. In so doing, it reinforces a distinction between primitive and civilized while projecting images that are Western-centric and attention-grabbing onto the diversity of the world's spiritual practices.' Dedicated 'to witches everywhere', The Witch Studies Reader – edited by Soma Chaudhuri and Jane Ward, professors of sociology and feminist studies respectively – is a beautifully-produced 500-page grimoire of over 30 essays by writers from around the world, with a fore fronting of witches of colour and voices from the Global South. I'm gobsmacked by the breadth, research quality and radicalism of this anthology, which is 'a gathering of the global coven' in 'an intersectional and decolonial approach to writing about witches.' This lens requires that readers in our culture look beyond the fashionable valorisation of witches, and grapple with the reasons that contemporary witch hunts have been omitted from Global North accounts of witches and witchcraft. It also requires that we note 'the ways that colonial, patriarchal, and white supremacist logics enable the exploitation and control of aging women's bodies, labour, and resources in every corner of the globe – with witchcraft accusations being but one method used to exercise this control of women.' Whilst incorporating fascinating insights and research on the kind of witchcraft 'glamour' and political activism we see breaking into the mainstream media in Western culture, The Witch Studies Reader highlights how tens of thousands of poor, Indigenous and/or ageing women in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa have been murdered for their association, real or imagined, with witchcraft in the past eighty years. This violence is ongoing. Witch hunts, like colonialism and state-sanctioned slavery, are often presumed to be located at a historical point in time, away from which our society has progressed. In this important book, feminist researchers of contemporary witchcraft-related murders upend that presumption, documenting how the forces of patriarchy, global capitalism and land displacement continue to intersect to make women vulnerable to scapegoating during times of economic crisis. Ushering the esoteric counter-normative into 'academic discourse', with many scholars who are witches themselves, this book opens with a spell: May each word to follow be an offering to the infinite altar that holds our collective brilliance, the place where every witch's heartbreak wail and freedom spell has claimed its little corner, there, waiting, for the next witches to carry on the work Further Reading Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco, tr. William Weaver, (Vintage, 2001). This satirical novel by Italian philosopher/writer, first published in 1988, demonstrates that the importance of esotericism to major poets and novelists isn't dependent on whether they endorse its ideas or worldviews. The novel is so full of references to Kabbalah , alchemy and other esoteric subjects that critic/novelist Anthony Burgess suggested it needed an index. Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy by Mircea Eliade (Princeton University Press, 2004). Romanian emigrant-scholar Eliade (1907-1986) was one of the founders of the modern study of the history of religion. His study on shamanism, first published in 1951, quickly became the standard. While some of his findings have been eclipsed in the years since, his work is still necessary reading for shamanists. Waking the Witch: Reflections on Women, Magic and Power by Pam Grossman (Gallery Books, 2019). Part-memoir part-exploration, Grossman's account of her initiation into witchcraft, the meaning of the 'witch' as a powerful emancipatory archetype, and the expression of witchcraft and magic in the worlds of art, literature and radical politics, is an inspiring and erudite read. See also Grossman's Witch Wave podcast.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Love hurts: How one couple spent $11K — and found a pricier solution to save their relationship
Every relationship has its highs and lows, and for many couples, therapy becomes the last stop before a breakup. For Angelina and Michael, their seven-year relationship was "on life support" as they struggled with the pressures of quarantine while living in a 600-square-foot apartment. A near-record number of Americans are grappling with $1,000 car payments and many drivers can't keep up. Here are 3 ways to stay ahead Protect your retirement savings with these 5 essential money moves — most of which you can complete in just minutes One dozen eggs in America now costs $4.15 — and $14.35 for a pound of sirloin steak. Both record highs. 3 simple ways to protect your wealth in 2025 Instead of calling it quits, they committed four years to therapy — spending nearly $11,000 in the process — only to realize that it was just the first investment in saving their relationship. The turning point came when they decided to upgrade to a larger apartment. For Angelina, the extra cost was worth it. 'We gained enough space to vent about one another on private phone calls and hide out from each other's friends,' Angelina wrote in a personal essay for The Cut. While they don't regret the money they poured into their relationship, they acknowledge that investing in love — both emotionally and financially — isn't always easy. Self-help books and therapists often encourage couples to invest in their relationship before walking away, but for many, that simply isn't an option. Moving into a two-floor apartment — with a kitchen that would make It's Complicated director Nancy Meyers jealous — felt like both a dream and a financial gut punch for Angelina and Michael. Their rent increased by $2,000. Michael saw it as a necessary investment, but Angelina wrestled with guilt, often feeling ashamed of the cost and quick to justify it to guests. Not every couple can fix their relationship with a bigger apartment and a tech salary like Michael's. Financial strain remains one of the strongest predictors of divorce. According to Duke University Press, wealthier couples in the U.S. are less likely to separate. Money strengthens a marriage in two key ways: by reducing financial stress and by acting as a social marker, signaling that a couple meets conventional standards for stability. For Angelina and Michael, financial security helped ease tensions in their relationship. For example, Angelina started spending more on dining out. 'Two years ago, that figure would have made my stomach liquefy. Thirty-six dollars for pasta? But once I started to see the benefits of these indulgences, I felt less anxious,' she wrote. So while financial stability doesn't guarantee a lasting marriage, it does buy breathing room. Read more: Commercial real estate has beaten the stock market for 25 years — here's how savvy investors can become the landlord of Walmart, Whole Foods or Kroger Angelina and Michael spent thousands on therapy and other efforts to repair their relationship. 'We've spent more than $10,000 just to make sure we leave the couch,' Angelina wrote. But not every couple needs to break the bank to make things work. Building a strong partnership isn't about how much you spend — it's about how much effort you put in. For some, that means prioritizing simple, meaningful moments together, like taking daily walks or setting aside time to reconnect. For others, financial transparency is key. Some experts suggest that merging finances can help couples align their goals and strengthen their commitment. 'Every couple should have joint accounts, joint priorities, joint rich life vision and also you have your own money set aside for safety, security, for spending on the things you but only you love,' Money for Couples author Ramit Sethi told Moneywise. Research backs this up. A study in the Journal of Consumer Research found that couples who combine their bank accounts are more likely to maintain relationship quality in the first two years of marriage. At the core of any lasting relationship isn't how much money you spend but how much effort you're willing to invest. And fortunately, that kind of investment doesn't have to cost a dime. I'm 49 years old and have nothing saved for retirement — what should I do? Don't panic. Here are 5 of the easiest ways you can catch up (and fast) Suze Orman: If you think you're ready to retire, think again — 4 critical money moves to avoid a financial crisis in retirement Rich, young Americans are ditching the stormy stock market — here are the alternative assets they're banking on instead This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
